If that little bundle of joy has had such a profound impact on your life
that you just can’t wait to have another, take a breath. A new study
suggests that you might want to wait at least six months before getting
pregnant again, and that more than 11 months could be even better.
The study found that when the interval between pregnancies was less than
six months, the chances of the baby dying, being born prematurely,
having birth defects or having a low birth weight were … [Read more...]

By Beth Cortez-Neavel
The Austin Times Staff
Along East Cesar Chavez Street on the front of a blue-gray one-story
house there are three signs hanging. Next to a muffler shop and across
from a small hair salon, this house looks nothing out of the ordinary
for East Austin.
“¡Si Se Puede! Feed. Teach. House & Employ.” “Protect our
children/relocate Pure Casting/build affordable housing!” and “PODER’s
Young Scholars for Justice” the signs read.
This is the home base for the People … [Read more...]

Employers and career experts see a growing problem in American society - an abundance of college graduates, many burdened with tuition-loan debt, heading into the work world with a degree that doesn't mean much anymore.
The problem isn't just a soft job market - it's an oversupply of graduates. In 1973, a bachelor's degree was more of a rarity, since just 47% of high school graduates went on to college. By October 2008, that number had risen to nearly 70%. For many Americans today, a trip … [Read more...]

Trey Lopez, Orion Garcia, and Patrick Murray, better known as the Peligrosa All-Stars, have been heating things up on dance floors throughout Austin over the years with their mix of cumbia, merengue, salsa, reggaeton, and Latin funk sounds.
Fresh off the blue stage at Fun Fun Fun Fest and having played along side Monte Negro, Ozomatli, and John Speice, percussionist for Latin funk band Ocote Soul Sounds and cumbia rock outfit Kanko, it has been a busy year for Peligrosa. They ended 2009 with … [Read more...]

Morgan Freeman as Mandela in South African movement
By Donna Bryson
South Africans say a new Hollywood film about sport, race and Nelson
Mandela will tell the world about the country’s history of struggle
and triumph despite some criticism that the lead roles are played by
American actors.
Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus” depicts Mandela, South Africa’s
first black president, as a strategist for racial reconciliation,
working to bring whites and blacks together after the end of … [Read more...]

Acclaimed trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, arguably the world's most prominent jazz musician, is set to premiere a major new project -- composing a Blues Symphony for orchestra.
In keeping with a career that spans jazz, classical music, band leadership and high-profile advocacy for the arts, Marsalis' symphony is epic in scope -- to celebrate American history from Revolution to the present through the blues.
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Morehouse College in Atlanta will … [Read more...]